Combined omni- and directional- communications in high-frequency wireless networks
AssigneeIntel Corporation
InventorsMenashe Soffer, Huaning Niu, Qinghua Li
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Abstract
In a wireless communication network, specific portions of the communication may combine directional transmission with omnidirectional reception. In particular, sector-level directional transmission may be established through sector sweeps, followed by antenna training for more directionality. In some embodiments, collisions during the exchange may be reduced by having different network devices use different sub-channels or different time slots. In some embodiments, each network may restrict its network communications to a single sub-channel that is different than the sub-channels used by adjacent networks.
Claims15
A method, comprising
- performing operations in a first wireless network device, the operations comprising:
- omnidirectionally receiving a discovery beacon including a first sector number identifying a first sector within which the discovery beacon was transmitted by a second wireless network device;
- directionally transmitting to the second wireless network device, within a second sector, a response including a second sector number identifying the second sector;
- directionally transmitting to the second wireless network device, within a third sector, the response including a third sector number identifying the third sector;
- and
- omnidirectionally receiving, from the second wireless network device, information containing a particular one of the second and third sector numbers;
- and
- directionally transmitting additional information to the second wireless network device, within the sector identified by the particular one of the second and third sector numbers.
An apparatus, comprising
- a first wireless network device containing a wireless transmitter, a wireless receiver, and a processor, the first wireless network device to:
- omnidirectionally receive a discovery beacon including a first sector number identifying a first sector within which the discovery beacon was transmitted by a second wireless network device;
- directionally transmit to the second wireless network device, within a second sector, a response including a second sector number identifying the second sector;
- directionally transmit to the second wireless network device, within a third sector, the response including a third sector number identifying the third sector;
- omnidirectionally receive, from the second wireless network device, information containing a particular one of the second and third sector numbers;
- and
- directionally transmit additional information to the second wireless network device, within the sector identified by the particular one of the second and third sector numbers.
An article comprising
- a tangible machine-readable medium that contains instructions, which when executed by one or more processors result in performing operations comprising:
- omnidirectionally receiving a discovery beacon including a first sector number identifying a first sector within which the discovery beacon was transmitted by a second wireless network device;
- directionally transmitting to the second wireless network device, within a second sector, a response including a second sector number identifying the second sector;
- directionally transmitting to the second wireless network device, within a third sector, the response including a third sector number identifying the third sector;
- omnidirectionally receiving, from the second wireless network device, information containing a particular one of the second and third sector numbers;
- and
- directionally transmitting additional information to the second wireless network device, within the sector identified by the particular one of the second and third sector numbers.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.